Beans, hazelnuts, apple and rapeseed oil… With all these ingredients you unexpectedly get the same texture as an avocado and a taste that resembles it. A recipe designed as an alternative to buying real avocados, the production and transportation of which are a real ecological disaster.
Code name: Ecovado. Understand: an avocado that is not an avocado, but at least reduces the ecological impact of this fruit at the heart of a star recipe that is still very much in vogue, the avocado toast. Its consumption is indeed the subject of strong criticism, because the culture is particularly greedy for water. It is necessary to count between 1,000 and 2,000 liters of water to obtain just one kilogram of avocados. Mexico is the world’s largest exporter, while it is also produced in the Dominican Republic and Peru. Thus, the environmental cost of transporting avocados to European supermarkets is added to the environmental footprint of this food, which is well established in many recipes, from the poke bowl to guacamole.
A problem that Arina Shokouhi’s graduation project focused on. The result is very concrete. It is shaped like an avocado that is similar in texture to the original product, but does not harm the planet. This graduate of London’s Central Saint Martins School has set herself the limit of using only local ingredients to make her fake avocado. In addition to the Culinary Innovation Center at the University of Nottingham, she has an avocado made with broad beans, hazelnuts, apples and canola oil. The result is disturbingly realistic thanks to a skin made of biodegradable wax. The student has clearly not forgotten the kernel, which is none other than a chestnut or a walnut.
(ETX Daily Up)